Hobbit actor Richard Armitage is set to voice upcoming titles in the bestselling thriller series, Alexander Gregory.

The news comes as physical sales of LJ Ross’ books have surpassed one million, according to TCM figures from Nielsen BookScan.

WF Howes (RBmedia’s UK publishing brand) has acquired the world audiobook rights for the next two titles in LJ Ross’ Alexander Gregory series. The rights were acquired from Millie Hoskins from United Agents by Lauren Smith, acquisition manager at WF Howes.

The agreement will see books seven and eight in the thriller series brought to life by Richard Armitage who is best known for playing the dwarf king Thorin Oakenshield in The Hobbit trilogy and playing the lead role in Netflix’s The Stranger. Armitage has voiced the previous four Alexander Gregory titles.

The book series follows the exploits of forensic psychiatrist and criminal profiler Dr Alexander Gregory as he steps inside some of the darkest criminal minds to solve the world’s most complex, mysterious and gruesome murder cases.

Obsession (book seven) is slated for simultaneous publication in September 2025, while the unnamed eighth book is expected to be published in 2026.

The total sales of Ross’ Alexander Gregory series are more than 53,000 (53,256). While figures show that her most popular series is the DCI Ryan series, having sold more than 500,000 (555,683) copies so far.

Ross said: “I’m thrilled to have signed this new deal with WF Howes and to pick up where we left off with the adventures of Dr Alexander Gregory. It’s been a real pleasure working with the team – and of course the extremely talented Richard Armitage – on this series and I’m sure listeners are going to love what’s in store for our hero in these next two novels.”

Smith said: “LJ Ross is one of the most popular authors on our list […] Her gripping and suspenseful writing style and trademark dark humour have always lent themselves perfectly for audio and it’s no surprise that the Alexander Gregory series has performed so well since the first title, Impostor, was launched back in 2019.”